Shares a timeline for Algonac’s aging infrastructure
By Barb Pert Templeton
When a majority of the Algonac City Council recently voted to increase water rates by 20% along with a 50% increase in sewer rates, such a large increase was likely difficult for residents to understand. Afterall, they will soon be paying an additional $33 a month for those services.
The new rates were approved by a 6-1 vote of the council at a May 20 meeting with Councilman Jake Skarbek casing the only descending vote.
Algonac resident Eileen Tesch spoke during the public comments portion of the budget meeting on May 20. She wondered what brought about the significant increase in water and sewer rates.
“I understand you want to raise the water and sewer rates-budget to over 110 percent,” Tesch said. “I mean I appreciate your discussing this but we want to know why and obviously what the problem is and it appears somebody may have dropped the ball because who makes this kind of budget increase in one year?”
City Manager Denice Gerstenberg gave a prestation prior to Water Department Chief Operator Josh Stewart taking the floor. She said officials have long recognized the city’s aging infrastructure and has taken deliberate steps over several years to plan for repairs and replacements.
A budget meeting presentation on May 6 was the culmination of extensive work by professional engineers, planners and financial consultants retained by the city council to help chart a sustainable path forward for Algonac, Gerstenberg said.
“The information shared during that session was fact based and grounded in professional expertise,” Gerstenberg said, adding that the city staff and council should not be criticized for delivering the data. “The information provided to city council is not always easy to hear nor is it always favorable, leadership often requires navigating difficult and complex issues and the challenges we face are not unique to our community, they are being experienced by municipalities across the country.”
The Algonac City Council meets on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at 6 p.m.
Gerstenberg then began the presentation by offering a timeline. She noted that water rates have not been increased in the city since 2011 and the last sewer increase was in 2024. She noted that
in 2013 the state introduced the SAW (Stormwater, Asset Management and Wastewater) program to help municipalities with their aging infrastructures.
In 2020, 688 SAW grants were awarded and Algonac got the 681st grant in the amount of just over $783,000. Gerstenberg said current council members have continued to talk about the need to update the aging infrastructure which has been neglected for years.
In 2023, the results of the SAW grant were presented and the estimate for improvements came to over $14 million dollars. In 2024 the council approved new software for water and sewer budgeting and capitol planning. In 2025, in late March, the city’s cash position was determined and on April 10 the city staff and council found out significant fee increases were being proposed so a special budget study session was scheduled for May 6.
Why is increase necessary now?
As to why now, Gerstenberg said the city just got all the SAW grant data and the city’s infrastructure is old and needs repairs or replacements.
“Past city councils, managers and treasurers did not plan or save for future projects, only fixed things that were broke and declined to increase water and sewer fees,” Gerstenberg said. “In fact, if you look back, since 1998 Algonac has had 12 city managers.”
The county managed the city’s waste water treatment plant for years but did not put money aside for future projects, so now the plant needs major improvements, Gerstenberg said.
The cost of things like chlorine, chemicals and just about everything is three and four times what it used to be prior to Covid in 2020 so the cost to run the water and sewer departments has sky rocketed, Gerstenberg said.
She said the current council did raise some water and sewer fees in the past but it just wasn’t enough. When the professionals looked at the city’s water and sewer bills on May 6, they proposed an increase of $939 per year.
“Staff as well as every member of council was very concerned about that and we wanted to work together to make that number lower; we all thought that was a very large increase for our citizens,” Gerstenberg said.
City staff including those at the water plant have been busy working to find alternatives to the huge increase and alleviate issues they are facing. The list of proposed actions included:
· Explore getting bonds for future projects.
· Renegotiating the existing their contract to Clay Township for water and sanitary sewer,
· Pass on cost to Clay Township as appropriate.
· Correct utility billing errors because for many years certain customers have been charged incorrectly for sewer.
· Charge higher late fees on water bills and charge credit card processing fees that were waived during Covid.
· Investigate borrowing from the general fund.
· Adopt new ordinances similar to those in New Baltimore, Cottrellville, Ira Township that determine rates annually.
· Change our rate structure based on our professional recommendations investigate passing certain costs on to non-residential users.
· Consider rate changes mid-year.
In the end, a majority of the council approved the $33 a month increase for water and sewer services which comes to about $396 a year. It’s hundreds of dollars less than the original $939 increase proposed by the professionals.
